"They Are Civilians," Says Putin On UK Nerve Agent Poisoning Suspects

Vladivostok, Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday the two men Britain suspects of poisoning former spy Sergei Skripal with military-grade nerve agent are not criminals and have been identified as civilians.Speaking at an economic forum with Japan's Shinzo Abe and China's Xi Jinping in the far eastern city of Vladivostok, Putin urged the men to address the media and said there was "nothing criminal"."We know who they are, we have found them," Putin said."They are civilians, of course," he said, apparently responding to a claim by the British authorities that the two suspects are members of Russia's military intelligence...

By Fayaz BukhariSRINAGAR —India has warned against rising communal tensions across the country as Kashmiris living outside their state faced property evictions, job suspensions and attacks on social media after a suicide bomber killed 44 policemen in the region.The car bomb attack on a security convoy on Thursday, claimed by Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad and carried out by a 20-year-old Kashmiri man, was the worst in decades of insurgency in the disputed area, which is claimed in full by both the nuclear-armed neighbors but ruled in part.As the bodies of the paramilitary policemen who died in the attack were returned...

FRANKFURT: BASF will launch the sale of its $3 billion-plus construction chemicals business in the spring, as part of the German chemicals group’s drive to focus on more profitable operations, people close to the matter said.BASF, which flagged its intention to auction off or merge the unit in October, said on Tuesday it had hired Goldman Sachs to organise the transaction.“We are still at an early stage of the process,” a BASF spokesman said, declining to comment further on the timing.Goldman Sachs declined to comment.The world’s largest maker of chemical additives for concrete is expected to fetch roughly 3 billion...

LONDON: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will pay investors, including the British government, a bigger than expected dividend after it more than doubled its profit in 2018, but warned that Brexit could drive businesses under pressure.Although the dividend means a nearly 1 billion pound ($1.28 billion) windfall for the British government, it is still expected to suffer heavy losses overall on the 45 billion pound state rescue of RBS at the height of the financial crisis.RBS, which is still majority state-owned, said it would pay investors an annual dividend of 3.5 pence and a special dividend of 7.5 pence, taking...

WASHINGTON/HANOI: Vietnamese airlines will be able to fly to the United States and codeshare with American carriers after the US Federal Aviation Administration declared the Southeast Asian country complies with international safety standards.The US aviation safety agency said in a statement that it was awarding Vietnam a “Category 1” rating, two weeks after Reuters reported the decision was expected.“It’s recognition by a very developed aviation authority which requires a very high standard of safety and security,” Vietnamese Deputy Transportation Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong told Reuters.There are currently no non-stop flights between Vietnam and the United States, despite a large market...

SAN FRANCISCO: Uber Technologies had $50 billion in annual bookings for its ride-service and food-delivery businesses last year, a testament to the size and global reach of the company as it prepares to woo investors in one of the biggest public stock listings to date.But figures released by the company showed revenue grew just 2 per cent in the fourth quarter, a sign that Uber continues to heavily subsidize rides in competitive markets, raising questions about its future growth prospects.Uber’s full-year revenue for 2018 was $11.3 billion, up 43 per cent from the prior year. Its losses before taxes, depreciation...

MEXICO CITY: Mexico will inject $3.9 billion into ailing state oil company Pemex, officials said, promising to strengthen its finances and prevent a further credit downgrade, although investors saw the plan as only a short-term fix.Falling oil output, corruption and high labor costs have contributed to the decline of the company that was once a symbol of national pride. It now holds roughly $106 billion in financial debt, the highest of any national oil company in Latin America. Fitch and Moody’s rate its credit one notch above junk.Fitch said on Friday that the plan, which includes additional tax cuts, more...